Plaster Rock is pond hockey mecca

Our outdoor hockey trip has taken us from Sault Ste. Marie to Halifax, visiting more than 20 communities and over 50 rinks. Despite our best efforts though, we’ve managed to cover only a fraction of the country. And, as we realized last week at the World Pond Hockey championship in Plaster Rock, N.B., even the whole of Canada represents only part of the world’s hockey culture.

The tournament in Plaster Rock is an outdoor hockey mecca. A beautifully smooth lake surrounded by woods creates a perfect setting, while more than 5,000 participants and spectators bring the perfect party.

Danny Braun, president and CEO of the tournament, explained to us that the event began as a fundraiser to build a new arena in the community. "It actually started as a snowmobile race to raise money. That did draw a lot of people, but after two years we realized we weren’t actually making any money. So we tried this thing, and it worked."

The first year of the hockey tournament was 2002 and the 40 participating teams came from New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Maine. With no other event quite like it, the championship attracted attention across the country. It expanded to 64 teams in 2003.

Braun says that "by the year of the NHL lockout in 2005, every major network in North America was checking out Plaster Rock. Ever since then, it has been ballooning geographically. Hockey hotbeds in Europe, the Caribbean and even Africa have sent teams here."

The tournament now attracts between 400 and 500 team applications for 132 spots. This year, teams from Canada, England, the United States, Singapore, the Cayman Islands, Puerto Rico and Denmark made the cut.

The whole operation is only possible because of a massive community effort from the people of Plaster Rock. Ploughing and flooding of the 26 ice surfaces starts nearly six weeks before the mid-February tournament. Roughly 200 volunteers pitch in to make more than 360 games happen over the course of four days.

"This is my ninth year. We come back every year because we love the people of Plaster Rock. Look at how hard they work. This tournament runs like a top," said Bryan Gruly of New York.

With the rest of his team, the London Devils, Scott Johnston made the trip from England for the tournament. He describes the event as hockey paradise. "It’s a beautiful day, perfect ice and lots of beer. This is hockey at its purest."

When asked what he would say to someone who thinks flying across the ocean to play pond hockey is crazy, Johnston has no illusions: "It probably is a bit crazy. But when you love the game you’re willing to come this far. Hockey is my favourite thing to do and this is the best place to do it, so for me it’s a no-brainer."

This tournament shows exactly how pond hockey can bring people together in the spirit of a good time. Old, young, English, French, European, Asian, African, male, female — they are all here, being creative and communal, friendly but competitive. This tournament unites almost all the qualities and intricacies we’ve explored on our trip.

But there is one way in which most of our experiences have been different from what we’re telling you about here in Plaster Rock: unlike the World Pond Hockey championship, most outdoor hockey happens without spectators or media, without referees or trophies.

Our outdoor hockey pilgrimage has been a lot of fun, but in this respect it has been a challenge. Pond hockey can be hard to describe and really illusive to talk about. There’s inherently less conflict in outdoor hockey than in the indoor version, fewer narratives, looser teams, uncertain scores.

The game is not for the spectator; it is for the person who’s there. It is for the person who lives it. And most of the time, the game speaks for itself.

For more on Ryan and Mark’s outdoor hockey trip, including podcasts and links to past articles, visit their blog at outdoorrinks.wordpress.com. This is the final instalment in an eight-week series on outdoor hockey in Canada.